Researchers at the University of Notre Dame are looking to test an app on approximately 1,000 youth and high school football players. It isn’t to track their performance, but rather could provide a way to recognize concussions. The program reportedly pulls out the vowel segment from a set of predetermined words and then analyzes that sound for changes that may indicate a brain injury.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now estimates that as many as 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur in the U.S. each year. However, because concussion can go undiagnosed, the true number of such injures could be much higher.
In many cases after taking a hard hit players are simply asked, “are you OK,” and now the researchers have looked to develop a test that could be not be swayed by answers from players look wanted to remain in the game. This builds on previous studies that have found that head injuries can change speech characteristics, with negative effects on vowel production being one factor that stands out.
This app could certainly help younger players stay safe and if necessary stay off the field after taking a hard hit.
[Via MIT Technology Review: Voice-Analyzing App Scans Football Players for Concussion]